Ready Player One Teaser Breakdown

Legendary director Steven Spielberg has done it again! A couple of weeks ago, the first official still of his new movie, Ready Player One, was released. In addition to that, and just recently in fact, Warner Brothers released a teaser to the movie earlier this weekend at San Diego Comic Con. In this article, we break down the trailer to this film adaptation based on Ernest Cline’s 2011 book of the same name. Heads up because there may be possible spoilers ahead!

During the first 63% of the trailer, a remix of Pure Imagination (from 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) plays as the protagonist narrates. Then, at the last 37% of the teaser, Rush’s song Tom Sawyer plays.

The trailer opens with Tye Sheridan’s character, Wade Watts, living with his aunt in a dismal Columbus, Ohio in the year 2045. He climbs through the “stacks,” a dilapidated district consisted of trailer homes piled on one another. He and young people his age pass the time and escape their reality by playing in a futuristic virtual reality simulator called the OASIS.

Wade enters the simulator, where he is seen standing alongside the famous Iron Giant and a ninja or samurai of some sort. He says that the OASIS is a place where people actually feel wanted. Then, there is a glimpse of a man in a cape riding into battle on a huge scorpion. (If you pause it at the right frame, he almost looks like George Washington.) We also see a soldier or brute robot shooting at enemies, one of whom is horror icon, Freddy Krueger, from The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

The trailer itself asks, “Are you ready?” then we cut to people in a simulation of racecar driving. After they rev up their engines, the next thing we see is an intense race transpiring, and it consists of a variety of famous vehicles. This includes Tron‘s lightcycle (with a brisk peek at the Atari logo at the front of it) and Back to the Future‘s ever so popular DeLorean. The race occurs in a virtual New York City, and one of the obstacles includes multiple swinging wrecking balls. In the last part of the trailer, we get a peek at some mysterious key unlocking something. What can it possibly be?

In my opinion, this movie is reminiscent of Robert Rodriguez’s Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over from 2003, which featured similar elements. I am sure, however, that Spielberg’s movie will be a massive improvement due to its advanced graphics and special effects. Who knows? Only time will tell.

This film contains a neat cast, including X-Men: Apocalypse‘s Tye Sheridan, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl‘s Olivia Cooke, Star Trek and Shaun of the Dead‘s Simon Pegg, and TJ Miller of Deadpool and Silicon Valley fame. Ready Player One hits theaters next spring on March 30, 2018. For more Steven Spielberg and Warner Brothers-related news, follow Geek Motivation on Twitter and Instagram! Also, do not forget to follow my blog today!